The world-famous British musician and composer, Brian Eno, has created a series of original music for the ‘Giannina Gaslini’ institute, which will contribute to the project ‘Music therapy and integrated disciplines to support hospitalized children, created in 2021 by Davide Ferrari president of Echo Art and supported by the ‘Con i Bambinì Foundation, as part of the fund to combat child educational poverty. The initiative entitled ‘Music for Intensive care and Surgery Rooms’ involves the involvement of Brian Eno to complement the music therapy work in the Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Gaslini hospital, directed by Andrea Moscatelli.
“The musical sound stimulus is capable of activating multiple distinct brain areas, music can bring countless benefits to human beings, both spiritual and physical”, declared Renato Botti, general director of Gaslini. “Brian Eno’s work is an important contribution to the Irccs Gaslini Music Therapy project which for over three years, by integrating complementary disciplines to child therapy, allows us to provide support and relief to children and their families, improving the therapeutic response of our little patients”.
The works will contribute to the research project, underway in the Ligurian pediatric hospital, on music therapy as a tool for non-pharmacological sedation in pre-anesthesia before major surgical interventions, in which Maria Mininni of the Anesthesia and acute and procedural pain therapy unit is involved and Carmelo Arcidiacono of the Cardiology UOC, in collaboration with the anesthetist Nicola Massimo Disma of the Anesthesia and Acute and Procedural Pain Therapy UOC and Cristina Venturino, head of the Psychology UOSD.
The works can be applied in different hospital departments, including operating rooms. In these places, in fact, the sound coming from the necessary medical devices is often a significant source of stress and anxiety for patients and their families. “Ambiences and soundscapes have been created such as suspended music, long instrumental notes, dilated spaces and neutral environments, not characterized by sounds or melodies referring to specific musical genres and without points of reference for the listener, along the lines of ambient music of which the British artist is a skilled and inimitable pioneer”, explains Davide Ferrari, president of Echo Art.
“The interventions are based on the provision of music aimed at reducing levels of stress, anxiety and fear, regulating the autonomic system and promoting recovery. These beneficial effects have already been demonstrated by numerous studies in the last decade. The research project activated at the Gaslini Institute involves the collection of data on states of anxiety, perception of pain, acceptance of anesthesia, quality of post-operative awakening and patients’ vital parameters in relation to the presence of ambient music , like those made by Brian Eno”.